History of homeopathy in select US cities
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 6:02 pm
Friends,
I have just posted at my website (http://www.homeopathic.com) articles
that provide interesting information about the history of homeopathy in San
Francisco, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.
Below is the information that I posted on homeopathy in San Francisco
(it is presented in a much nicer form at my website).
I hope you enjoy this information!
Homeopathy in the San Francisco Bay Area
The first homeopath in California was a '49er, who came with the gold fever
in the fateful year of 1849. Dr. Benjamin Ober arrived in San Francisco on
July 3, 1849.
The California State Medical Society of Homoeopathic Practitioners was
incorporated on April 10, 1872, but only lasted a couple of years due to
infighting among its members. In 1877, an new organization was formed and
called itself the California State Homoeopathic Medical Society, a name by
which it still is known today.
The First East Bay Hospital was Homeopathic!
The first hospital in the East Bay was a homeopathic hospital: the Oakland
Homoeopathic Hospital and Dispensary Association, which was founded on
November 6, 1877, and was located at Broadway and MacArthur Sts. In 1886 it
changed its name to Fabiola Hospital.
A Hospital and a Feminist Experiment!
The Oakland Homoeopathic Hospital and Dispensary was founded by 18 women.
When it became Fabiola Hospital , the new bylaws stipulated that the
management of the hospital must only reside in a woman's hands. The bylaws
also stated that there must always be women physicians as staff doctors.
This hospital provided free and reduced-rate care for 56 years. Due to the
difficult economic times during the Great Depression, it was forced to
close. Ultimately, the land was sold to Merritt Hospital that today resides
but a few blocks from Fabiola Hospital 's original site. On the day that
Fabiola Hospital closed, the Oakland Tribune headline eulogized, "Fabiola
Ends Experiment in 'Feminism.'" (October 16, 1932).
The First Homeopathic College in California
In 1884, the first homeopathic medical college in California was founded at
the corner of Stockton and Geary and was named the Hahnemann Medical College
of San Francisco. Two of the professors at this college were Dr. Samuel
Lilienthal (the father of the famous Lilienthal family of San
Francisco --more information on the Lilienthal family follows) and Dr. James
Ward (who served as commissioner of the San Francisco Health Department
during the 1906 earthquake).
The college moved to Page St. in 1888 and their teaching clinic was located
in the homeopathic hospital just two blocks away. However, when the San
Francisco supervisors passed an ordinance prohibiting the location of
hospitals within a certain distance to city hall, the homeopaths were
informed that their hospital must close. There is some speculation that
conventional physicians played a role in the passing of this ordinance. Dr.
Ward was arrested for refusing to close the hospital, and, although he
fought this decision up to the Supreme Court, by the time he won, the loss
of revenues created much hardship for the hospital and college.
In the early 1900's the hospital relocated at Maple and Sacramento and
maintained the name Hahnemann Hospital until when it was renamed Marshall
Hale Hospital in the 1970s.
1st Woman in American College of Surgeons was a SF Woman Homeopath
Florence Ward, MD, was the first woman physician admitted into the American
College of Surgeons. Dr. Ward was a well-known and respected homeopathic
physician who owned and ran her own three-story hospital and sanitarium. Dr.
Ward's specialty was obstetrics, and her hospital utilized homeopathic
medicines regularly as well as the most up-to-date medical technologies of
that era.
The Homeopathic Connection to the Famous Haas-Lilienthal House
Dr. Samuel Lilienthal was the grandfather of Samuel Lilienthal who married
Alice Haas (daughter of the famous San Francisco merchant William Haas, who
started the pant company Levi Strauss!). It was Samuel and Alice 's
children, along with Madeleine Haas Russell who donated the Haas-Lilienthal
House to the city of San Francisco.
Another curious fact about Dr. Samuel Lilienthal was that he was an early
champion of women's rights; he was instrumental in allowing women to gain
acceptance to medical schools. He wasn't the only homeopath who supported
women's rights: the American Institute of Homeopathy admitted women into its
organization as early as 1871, while the American Medical Association didn't
admit women until 1915.
Another homeopath who was prominent in his communities was Dr. C.W.
Breyfogle, a homeopath in San Jose, who was that city's mayor in 1886.
The Dean of Clinical Medicine at Stanford: A Homeopath!
In the 1890's, Dr. Albert Abrams was professor of pathology and the dean of
clinical medicine at Stanford. Although he practiced an unconventional type
of homeopathy which utilized a questionable medical instrument called a
"radionics box," Sir James Barr, a past-president of the British Medical
Association and a contemporary of Abrams, duplicated the doctor's
experiments and described him as one of the greatest medical geniuses the
profession had produced in the past half century.
Homeopathy in the Bay Area Today
There are at least 50 licensed professionals in the Bay Area who practice
homeopathy as their primary therapeutic modality. The majority of these
professionals are medical doctors, although there also are dentists,
podiatrists, veterinarians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners,
acupuncturists, and chiropractors.
Homeopathic Educational Services, a Berkeley company that offers mail-order
services of homeopathic books, tapes, medicines, and software, is a major
distributor of homeopathic materials in the U.S. Visit their website at:
http://www.homeopathic.com If you are ever in the San Francisco, please
visit our store and library (we have one of the largest private collections
of pre-1900 homeopathic books and journals). Store address: 2036 Blake St.
(near Shattuck).
Other Tidbits
Another tidbit about Dr. Samuel Lilienthal is that his brother was Rabbi Max
Lilienthal, one of the most respected rabbis in the world of his day.
Although Rabbi Max never moved to San Francisco , the Lilienthal family was
very prominent in the San Francisco Jewish community.
When Dr. Sam (as he called himself) was in New York , he occasionally penned
children's stories for a New York Jewish newspaper under the pen-name "Uncle
Sam."
Besides authoring Homeopathic Therapeutics, Dr. Sam was considered one of
the most rapid and best German translators. He was the editor of American
Journal of Homeopathy and professor at the New York College for Women and at
the New York Homeopathic Medical College .
His son, James Lilienthal, was also a homeopath. He established a free
dispensary for the poor on Mission St., and he serves as professor of
children's diseases at the Hahnemann College of the Pacific.
Writings by Dana Ullman, MPH © 2003
Dana Ullman, MPH
Homeopathic Educational Services
2124 Kittredge St.
Berkeley, CA. 94704
(510)649-0294
(800)359-9051 (orders in the US only)
(510)649-1955 (fax)
dullman@igc.org OR mail@homeopathic.com
http://www.homeopathic.com
I have just posted at my website (http://www.homeopathic.com) articles
that provide interesting information about the history of homeopathy in San
Francisco, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.
Below is the information that I posted on homeopathy in San Francisco
(it is presented in a much nicer form at my website).
I hope you enjoy this information!
Homeopathy in the San Francisco Bay Area
The first homeopath in California was a '49er, who came with the gold fever
in the fateful year of 1849. Dr. Benjamin Ober arrived in San Francisco on
July 3, 1849.
The California State Medical Society of Homoeopathic Practitioners was
incorporated on April 10, 1872, but only lasted a couple of years due to
infighting among its members. In 1877, an new organization was formed and
called itself the California State Homoeopathic Medical Society, a name by
which it still is known today.
The First East Bay Hospital was Homeopathic!
The first hospital in the East Bay was a homeopathic hospital: the Oakland
Homoeopathic Hospital and Dispensary Association, which was founded on
November 6, 1877, and was located at Broadway and MacArthur Sts. In 1886 it
changed its name to Fabiola Hospital.
A Hospital and a Feminist Experiment!
The Oakland Homoeopathic Hospital and Dispensary was founded by 18 women.
When it became Fabiola Hospital , the new bylaws stipulated that the
management of the hospital must only reside in a woman's hands. The bylaws
also stated that there must always be women physicians as staff doctors.
This hospital provided free and reduced-rate care for 56 years. Due to the
difficult economic times during the Great Depression, it was forced to
close. Ultimately, the land was sold to Merritt Hospital that today resides
but a few blocks from Fabiola Hospital 's original site. On the day that
Fabiola Hospital closed, the Oakland Tribune headline eulogized, "Fabiola
Ends Experiment in 'Feminism.'" (October 16, 1932).
The First Homeopathic College in California
In 1884, the first homeopathic medical college in California was founded at
the corner of Stockton and Geary and was named the Hahnemann Medical College
of San Francisco. Two of the professors at this college were Dr. Samuel
Lilienthal (the father of the famous Lilienthal family of San
Francisco --more information on the Lilienthal family follows) and Dr. James
Ward (who served as commissioner of the San Francisco Health Department
during the 1906 earthquake).
The college moved to Page St. in 1888 and their teaching clinic was located
in the homeopathic hospital just two blocks away. However, when the San
Francisco supervisors passed an ordinance prohibiting the location of
hospitals within a certain distance to city hall, the homeopaths were
informed that their hospital must close. There is some speculation that
conventional physicians played a role in the passing of this ordinance. Dr.
Ward was arrested for refusing to close the hospital, and, although he
fought this decision up to the Supreme Court, by the time he won, the loss
of revenues created much hardship for the hospital and college.
In the early 1900's the hospital relocated at Maple and Sacramento and
maintained the name Hahnemann Hospital until when it was renamed Marshall
Hale Hospital in the 1970s.
1st Woman in American College of Surgeons was a SF Woman Homeopath
Florence Ward, MD, was the first woman physician admitted into the American
College of Surgeons. Dr. Ward was a well-known and respected homeopathic
physician who owned and ran her own three-story hospital and sanitarium. Dr.
Ward's specialty was obstetrics, and her hospital utilized homeopathic
medicines regularly as well as the most up-to-date medical technologies of
that era.
The Homeopathic Connection to the Famous Haas-Lilienthal House
Dr. Samuel Lilienthal was the grandfather of Samuel Lilienthal who married
Alice Haas (daughter of the famous San Francisco merchant William Haas, who
started the pant company Levi Strauss!). It was Samuel and Alice 's
children, along with Madeleine Haas Russell who donated the Haas-Lilienthal
House to the city of San Francisco.
Another curious fact about Dr. Samuel Lilienthal was that he was an early
champion of women's rights; he was instrumental in allowing women to gain
acceptance to medical schools. He wasn't the only homeopath who supported
women's rights: the American Institute of Homeopathy admitted women into its
organization as early as 1871, while the American Medical Association didn't
admit women until 1915.
Another homeopath who was prominent in his communities was Dr. C.W.
Breyfogle, a homeopath in San Jose, who was that city's mayor in 1886.
The Dean of Clinical Medicine at Stanford: A Homeopath!
In the 1890's, Dr. Albert Abrams was professor of pathology and the dean of
clinical medicine at Stanford. Although he practiced an unconventional type
of homeopathy which utilized a questionable medical instrument called a
"radionics box," Sir James Barr, a past-president of the British Medical
Association and a contemporary of Abrams, duplicated the doctor's
experiments and described him as one of the greatest medical geniuses the
profession had produced in the past half century.
Homeopathy in the Bay Area Today
There are at least 50 licensed professionals in the Bay Area who practice
homeopathy as their primary therapeutic modality. The majority of these
professionals are medical doctors, although there also are dentists,
podiatrists, veterinarians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners,
acupuncturists, and chiropractors.
Homeopathic Educational Services, a Berkeley company that offers mail-order
services of homeopathic books, tapes, medicines, and software, is a major
distributor of homeopathic materials in the U.S. Visit their website at:
http://www.homeopathic.com If you are ever in the San Francisco, please
visit our store and library (we have one of the largest private collections
of pre-1900 homeopathic books and journals). Store address: 2036 Blake St.
(near Shattuck).
Other Tidbits
Another tidbit about Dr. Samuel Lilienthal is that his brother was Rabbi Max
Lilienthal, one of the most respected rabbis in the world of his day.
Although Rabbi Max never moved to San Francisco , the Lilienthal family was
very prominent in the San Francisco Jewish community.
When Dr. Sam (as he called himself) was in New York , he occasionally penned
children's stories for a New York Jewish newspaper under the pen-name "Uncle
Sam."
Besides authoring Homeopathic Therapeutics, Dr. Sam was considered one of
the most rapid and best German translators. He was the editor of American
Journal of Homeopathy and professor at the New York College for Women and at
the New York Homeopathic Medical College .
His son, James Lilienthal, was also a homeopath. He established a free
dispensary for the poor on Mission St., and he serves as professor of
children's diseases at the Hahnemann College of the Pacific.
Writings by Dana Ullman, MPH © 2003
Dana Ullman, MPH
Homeopathic Educational Services
2124 Kittredge St.
Berkeley, CA. 94704
(510)649-0294
(800)359-9051 (orders in the US only)
(510)649-1955 (fax)
dullman@igc.org OR mail@homeopathic.com
http://www.homeopathic.com